Manchester City make the trip to Birmingham where they will be hosted by Aston Villa on Wednesday night. Following their FA Cup exit, City’s dreams of winning the quadruple are now dashed. In the 1-0 loss to Chelsea, in the FA Cup semi-finals, they were unable to breach the Blues’ defence. (For the Manchester City starting XI Prediction go here)
That is one area they will want to improve upon when facing Villa. Regarding fitness concerns, the biggest name to be assessed ahead of the midweek clash is Kevin De Bruyne. He picked up a foot injury during the semi-final clash that caused an excessive amount of swelling.
The boss confirmed that the Belgian will be looked upon by the phyisos before making a decision on his availability.
Another big name who is likely to miss out is the Argentine Sergio Aguero. The forward has a “number of niggles” and that should see him miss out on another game. There is also going to be a lot of rotation given that City will be back in action in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday.
Pep Guardiola would like to see his team react to the Cup exit in the right manner and get the three points in a decisive fashion. Their attack and especially the finishing will have to be much better in order for that to happen.
Players such as Ferran Torres, among others, will see this as another opportunity to show what they can do. Whomever City have in their attacking third, it could prove to be too much for the hosts. The more Villa attack, the more vulnerable it leaves them at the back where City could finish them off in a rapid counterattack.
Manchester City are in the final stretch of the season now. Though their position at the top is pretty much secure, it would be good to prevent any hiccups, and thus, end any remaining doubt. With the quality in their squad, City are favourties to get past Villa and that will be the likely result on Wednesday.